Garden Inspired Health and Well-Being

While you rarely see them anymore, I’m sure most of you remember those commercials that toted high fructose corn syrup as being “fine in moderation”. There was always one person offering a treat of some kind to another person, who would question the health consequences of the treat having high fructose corn syrup in it. The person offering the lab-made treat would then mock the other person and pressure them into accepting the treat, convincing them that HFCS is completely unconsequential to your health and thereby, ok to eat. In truth, HFCS is a mind-boggling common sweetener, yet it’s one of the most toxic chemicals in our food supply.

HFCS is in roughly 70% of modern grocery store items today, primarily in processed foods, “lite” foods, and so-called diet foods. It is also in probably closer to 80 or 90% of all fast food items, and I suspect, at least 60-70% of chain restaurant food items. HFCS in not only NOT healthy to consume, consuming it not only prevents your body from losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight set-point, it actually triggers all the mechanisms in your body to stimulate WEIGHT GAIN. And, if that weren’t bad enough, since obesity triggers a boatload of secondary dangerous health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, increase incidence of stroke and Alzheimer’s disease, HFCS also speeds your body’s rate of aging, including everything from unwanted wrinkles to non-alcoholic fatty liver syndrome.

Consuming HFCS immediately disrupts the function of the liver, pancreas and entire endocrine system, which are responsible for metabolizing fatty acids and regulating blood sugar. Even a single high dose of HFCS can trigger an energy and enzyme shock to the liver, and regular consumption of foods containing HFCS can lead to a severe drop in the organ’s ability to function, which in turn can impact dozen of bodily systems.

How High-Fructose Corn Syrup Triggers Weight Gain

* INFLAMMATION: HFCS inflames liver cells. This reduces the liver’s ability to perform lipolysis, the breakdown of fat for fuel.

* TOXINS: Levels of metabolic waste products spike when HFCS is consumed. This immediately disrupts the body’s ability to control blood sugar, raising the risk of fat storage, toxin storage and weight gain.

* LEPTIN HORMONE: Consuming even small amounts of HFCS impairs the body’s ability to recognize leptin, a hormone that control appetite.

* GHRELIN HORMONE: The body makes hunger-inducing ghrelin when it’s time to eat, but eating HFCS doesn’t dampen ghrelin production, which is why people still feel hungry even after a large meal.